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Uncle Frank Invents the Electron Microphone
- Narrated by: Donald Davis
- Length: 44 mins
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Publisher's summary
In the hills of Appalachia, humor and wisdom are mixed up forever in funny, wise stories that seem to grow more lustrous with each telling. Here are two of the best: "Uncle Frank Invents the Electron Microphone", Appalachian folk wisdom rolled into one of Davis' funniest stories; "Uncle Frank and the Crown Feed Boys", Davis' legendary Uncle Frank teaches a couple of traveling salesmen the lesson of their lives.
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Braces hurt. Braces look funny. Braces are downright embarrassing. And just about the time you think they're going to feel normal, it's time to tighten them up again. Worst of all, most of us get braces just at that time of life when the last thing we want to do is to look conspicuous, to call attention to ourselves in any way. This new coming-of-age story employs storyteller Donald Davis' trademark descriptions and humor to address the question: is this worth all the pain and embarrassment?
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Another good story
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There was a time during Donald Davis's college freshman year when he wasn't really sure he wanted to claim his hometown of Sulpher Springs, North Carolina. But a boy by the name of Stanley Easter changed Davis's mind.
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Broken Bones is a double set of double stories. The first set is made up of a story Davis's grandmother told about the time his mother broke her arm - twice! The second story in the first set is about how his little brother's collarbone was broken - twice! The second set of stories concerns Davis' neighbors, the Leatherwoods, and explains what happens when two big brothers team up against two little brothers. It also tells us that fathers are always smarter than their sons!
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Performance
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Joe Davis was in his mid-40s when he became a father, and the experience he was able to apply in raising his sons lent creativity to his parenting. The five stories here recall the wisdom of fathers with humor and rich detail: a visit to the Smithsonian inspires father's memory; father "cures" a boy's impulse to try cigarettes; Santa Claus learns an important lesson; and someone plays a trick on a visiting preacher.
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Jack and Granny Ugly
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Growing up in North Carolina, Donald Davis heard stories that came to America through Scots-Irish immigrants about a fellow named Jack who was so real that young Davis thought he was a distant relative or otherside-of-the-mountain neighbor. Now Davis knows that Jack is a universal legendary figure who, by various names, is found in nearly every culture.
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Storyteller Donald Davis had a very sensible mother. She had a pretty good idea of what boys would do, so she was always on the lookout. As Davis later learned, always being on the lookout is what mamas do. His vigilant but gentle mother gave her son multiple gifts in life and, as we learn in the end, gifts that do not end with her passing.
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Spoken with a happy heart!
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Miss Daisy
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An eccentric schoolteacher and a widow-lady babysitter are the heroines in these new digital studio recordings of Donald Davis' two all-time most-requested stories. "It was the 42nd year she had taught fourth grade", yet there was nothing routine about Miss Daisy or her methods. Rather than settle for textbook work (Miss Daisy left textbooks in the big closet) she took her class on a year-long imaginary world tour.
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This is how I wish my teacher would have been.
- By CICADA on 03-04-03
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Dr. York, Miss Winnie, and the Typhoid Shot
- By: Donald Davis
- Narrated by: Donald Davis
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Performance
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Story
In rural North Carolina, in 1951, despite parental reassurances, a typhoid shot hurt. It hurt even more when the children saw who would be administering the shot: Miss Winnie, a large, dictatorial nurse who had been "especially built by the nursing school so she would never blow away in a hard wind".
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Donald Davis is always a super entertainer.
- By DQwannaB on 10-20-16
By: Donald Davis
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Grandma's Lap Stories
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Performance
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From the heart of the Appalachian Mountains come these folktales and folk rhymes for young children. In this recording of timeless children's tales, Davis, one of our most gifted storytellers, weaves for a new generation the same tales his grandmother told him as he sat in her lap so many years ago.
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Editorial reviews
North Carolina storyteller Donald Davis is like a favorite uncle who has a wealth of stories that may not entirely be true but are too entertaining not to believe. Davis' long, leisurely tales are told with great amusement and deadpan humor, and listeners will find themselves hooting with laughter as Davis narrates the adventures of notorious Uncle Frank as he provides a tongue-in-cheek history lesson and imparts some eyebrow-raising advice on dealing with politicians in "Uncle Frank Invents the Electron Microscope" and outwits a pair of traveling salesmen in "Uncle Frank and the Crown Feed Boys".
Critic reviews
"If you've never heard Donald Davis spin a yarn, I feel sorry for you." (Nashville Banner)